If Egypt's army had wanted to disguise the fact that what they had just done was carry out a military coup, they made a poor job of it. Without mentioning Mohamed Morsi by name, the head of the army General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi effectively declared the removal of Egypt's first democratically elected president by appointed the head of the supreme constitutional court as interim head of state. No one in Egypt knows who this man Adli Mansour is. But he will be the face, or rather the fig leaf, of the people who write constitutional decrees.

Gen Sisi called for presidential and parliamentary elections and a panel to review the constitution, but no timelines were given. Nor could any comfort be gained from the politicians and religious leaders sitting next the military junta. Two of them, Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand sheikh of al-Azhar, Cairo's highest seat of Islamic learning and the Salafist Nour party were the cause of the worst confrontation the ousted Muslim Brotherhood had with secular liberals over the interpretation of sharia in the new constitution. Now they are on the other side, their fundamentalist interpretations will become the new regime's problems.

Liberal this new regime is not. Its first act was to shut down five television stations, who were covering the growing demonstrations of Muslim Brotherhood supporters. A sixth channel, an offshoot of al-Jazeera called al-Jazeera Misr, was raided, and its journalists arrested. Speaking shortly after Sisi's announcement the liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei declared that the 2011 revolution was relaunched. Tahrir Square erupted in celebration. It may well be short-lived, because what really happened in Egypt was that it went back two years. With Morsi gone, the old regime is back where they want to be, pulling the levers of power. It is now only a matter of time before the loser of the last presidential election, Ahmed Shafiq comes back from exile.

Let us be clear, Mr Morsi failed to make good on the promise he made to represent all the factions that ousted Hosni Mubarak two years ago. When he offered concessions, such as a government of national unity and a neutral committee to rewrite the constitution, it was too late. Something as fundamental as a constitution should never have been rammed through, after half of the members of its constituent assembly had resigned and with the promise that it could be amended in the future. Mr Morsi had a valid argument when he said that the opposition refused to participate from the start. But he nevertheless should not have proceeded without them. He should have enforced the rule of law, especially against the police.

Even so, what took shape last night was more fundamental than any of the conflicts that led to it. To dispose of Egypt's first democratically elected president, to disenfranchise all those who participated in the free elections for the presidency and the parliament and the referendum for the constitution is another matter entirely. Each of these nascent institutions were castigated by foreign governments and human rights groups for falling below international standards. Mr Morsi was given lectures about how democracy is more than just the ballot box. But which standard is more important than the one which decrees that transfers of power can only be enacted peacefully and through the ballot box? That has just been trashed.

The military coup has had one benefit. It has made it crystal clear on which side everyone now stands. The liberals, nationalists, Salafis and head of the Coptic church have joined sides with Egypt's unreformed and unreformable deep state. The ousted Muslim Brotherhood on the other have gained a cause even more potent than Islamism. They are now fighting for constitutional democracy. No longer can they be accused of trying to hide the worst sins of the army and the police when they are so obviously their victims. Morsi was arrested at his home by police and thugs. Can anyone imagine elections taking place in these conditions? And yet an election in which all sides can mobilise their forces without fear of arrest, represents the only way out . On Wednesday night, this looked as far off as it has ever been.